“What this legislation creates is a modern-day Gestapo,” Galati said. “No exaggeration, that’s what it creates. It chills, censors and criminalizes free speech, free association and constitutional rights of assembly. It takes all your private information and shares it with all government agencies, including foreign governments …”

Given C-51’s contents, the PM can no longer hide his true colours with reassuring ads about “protecting” families on the one hand, and vicious ads attacking his rivals on the other. It can’t be swept off the page by another Beatles medley.

And it can’t be supported today with the promise of amending it on some tomorrow that may never come — as Justin Trudeau has done.

And what was the Liberal leader thinking when he asked the very senators he ejected from the national caucus to support C-51? After all, it gives authorities the right to designate political criticism of the government’s policies against terrorism as a crime in itself. There was never any persuasive argument for doing anything but planting your feet firmly and fighting this bill — as the NDP and the Green Party have done from the beginning.

And have you noticed that there’s no war Stephen Harper doesn’t want to get in on, or foment? His stupefying habit of baiting Russian President Vladimir Putin is only the most recent example; Harper runs Canadian foreign policy as though it were a rumble in a parking lot. And now he has navigated the most undemocratic piece of legislation of his term — his legacy bill — through the democratic institutions he controls completely for another few months.

The hacker collective Anonymous gets it. C-51 is designed for the things Harper doesn’t like. He doesn’t like free speech. He doesn’t like protestors who take their convictions to the street. He doesn’t like public information getting out there without his approval — so he doesn’t like any displays of independence from scientists, journalists, bureaucrats or judges. He doesn’t like unions, or environmentalists, or opposition in any form. C-51 is made by and for a man who — like every dictator everywhere — thinks that his should be the last word on everything.

Bottom line? C-51 says whatever CSIS, CSE, the RCMP and the federal government want it to say. It is not an anti-terror measure; it is a manifesto for a police state.

By now, it’s not news to say that C-51 violates the rights and freedoms of every Canadian. Like Harper himself, this new law will operate in the penumbral world of tightly-held information — that perpetual Harperland twilight where you can’t quite see anything clearly. Massive discretionary power is being handed over to a group that is professionally averse to oversight. They want your information (15 million downloads tracked per day at the Communications Security Establishment) but you’re not entitled to theirs. From his end, Harper’s idea of public dialogue is a perpetual photo-op.

There’s something new here. The police state usually pads up behind you on cat’s paws. But this time, Harper has stabbed his finger into everyone’s chest to give us a hearty shove. This is a blatant, brazen grab for the kind of power no leader in a democracy should seek — let alone have in perpetuity.

How can there be unfettered sharing of information between departments of government without massive and illegal privacy violations? With foreign governments involved, how in the world do we avoid another Maher Arar? If Harper is returned to government armed with C-51, his security, police and intelligence apparatus will be virtually above the law.

Unlike the temporary measures taken by the Liberals after 9/11, C-51 is a monster designed to grow. There are no sunset provisions, there is no parliamentary oversight; the statute reads as though it were written on a napkin at a fast-food joint at closing time. Where it should be precise and prescriptive, C-51 is hopelessly open-ended and discursive — the opposite of good law.

Bottom line? C-51 says whatever CSIS, CSE, the RCMP and the federal government want it to say. It is not an anti-terror measure; it is a manifesto for a police state, conferring on it vast powers to spy on and control its citizens. This blather about being at war with ISIS is utter nonsense.

Lurking behind this monstrous bill is Stephen Harper’s broader mission: the destruction by other means of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The question needs to be asked. How did a piece of legislation that has raised the ire of four prime ministers, five former Supreme Court justices, First Nations Chiefs, the 36,000 lawyers of the Canadian Bar Association, 51,000 members of the Postal Union and even former CSIS agents ever make it out of the Department of Justice, let alone through the House of Commons?

The answer is simple. It emerged for the same reason that half a dozen other bills that were struck down by the Supreme Court did: federal lawyers in Justice didn’t care whether the bills were consistent with the charter.

That is not some airy-fairy theory. Edgar Schmidt, a former senior lawyer in the federal Justice department, is suing the government for not thoroughly evaluating proposed bills to see if they might violate the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Schmidt, whose challenge began in 2012, has argued that the Department of Justice “had its lawyers apply only a flawed and minimal screening test … Inadequate examination of proposed legislation for compliance with human rights appears to infringe Canadian legal requirements that dictate the degree of scrutiny to which legislation must be subject. Falling short of the legal standard raises questions of the degree to which the rule of law is respected by the federal government of Canada.”

Stephen Harper has politicized everything he has touched since winning power in 2006, including the RCMP and the Justice department. The flawed bills that have ended up in front of the Supreme Court were deliberately put forward to challenge the supremacy of the Charter of Rights, the enduring creation of Harper’s arch-enemy, the hated Pierre Trudeau. When they were rejected, Harper and his cronies raged against the “interventionist” court, singling out the Chief Justice herself for a public dissing.

Now we know Harper broke the law by pressuring for the destruction of long-gun registry data, even though the Information Commissioner was in the middle of an investigation. Steve’s answer? Pass a retroactive law, and leave it to the 2015 winner of the Paul Calandra Medal for Public Stupidity — Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney — to defend it.

This PM isn’t interested in the rule of law, but the rule of Steve. And that is what Bill C-51 is all about — and why this guy should be running North Korea, not Canada.

Michael Harris is a writer, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He was awarded a Doctor of Laws for his “unceasing pursuit of justice for the less fortunate among us.” His nine books include Justice Denied, Unholy Orders, Rare ambition, Lament for an Ocean, and Con Game. His work has sparked four commissions of inquiry, and three of his books have been made into movies. His new book on the Harper majority government, Party of One, is a number one best-seller.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

Between 2008-2009 my wife and I met Canadian Intelligence agents
through Craigslist who wanted us to work for them to set up blacks and
gays and people with mental disabilities for arrest and abuse and murder
through Craigslist. We would not help them so they started abusing my
family and I.

We contact Craigslist numerous times between 2009-2013 and informed
them about what was going on but they ignored us and started blocking
our accounts. We were informed by an agent that Canadian Craigslist
servers were controlled by the Harper government and they made a deal
with Craig and that Buckmaster guy otherwise they would block Craigslist
from Canada. Canadian Intelligence used my wife and I to get fraudulent
30-08 terror warrants from the Courts and when the Courts found out
they were furious.

The same day we posted the open letter to Craigslist they changed
their TERMS OF SERVICE policies to try and shield themselves from
getting sued for what they are doing. Here is the open letter to
Craigslist we wrote and here is their TERMS OF SERVICE policies they
changed that day, and starting that day they made all the Craigslist
users around the world agree to those TERMS OF SERVICE policies
otherwise they weren’t allowed to log into their Craigslists accounts
again.

Harper must go if we hope to save democracy and our country. We have become the laughing stock of the world. Harper is painted into a corner. Thank you Michael for keeping the truth alive during the smoke and haze of Harperland. No the winner of the Paul Calandra prize for Stupidity is Roxanne James. Harper’s team has dwindled to emptiness! It was as it should be. Move away from the smell! Dump Harper. Put him back in the closet.

Between 2008-2009 my wife and I met Canadian Intelligence agents
through Craigslist who wanted us to work for them to set up blacks and
gays and people with mental disabilities for arrest and abuse and murder
through Craigslist. We would not help them so they started abusing my
family and I.

We contact Craigslist numerous times between 2009-2013 and informed
them about what was going on but they ignored us and started blocking
our accounts. We were informed by an agent that Canadian Craigslist
servers were controlled by the Harper government and they made a deal
with Craig and that Buckmaster guy otherwise they would block Craigslist
from Canada. Canadian Intelligence used my wife and I to get fraudulent
30-08 terror warrants from the Courts and when the Courts found out
they were furious.

The same day we posted the open letter to Craigslist they changed
their TERMS OF SERVICE policies to try and shield themselves from
getting sued for what they are doing. Here is the open letter to
Craigslist we wrote and here is their TERMS OF SERVICE policies they
changed that day, and starting that day they made all the Craigslist
users around the world agree to those TERMS OF SERVICE policies
otherwise they weren’t allowed to log into their Craigslists accounts
again.

It’s unfair to say that federal lawyers in the Justice Department didn’t care whether the bills were consistent with the charter. The fact is that Harper doesn’t/won’t listen – it doesn’t matter what the advice is.

Harper seems to follow Milton Fried-man’s system of economics not that Milton was a really great economist , he was really great at stating what the rich wanted to hear– so its all about control and using money as a score card of how much control you have. So is it hard to believe that this is about control of the masses while they get ripped off?

Leave the “rich” alone…. they deserve their money because they are winners. The masses are losers and will always lose because they are too dumb to be able to compete in the global economy. Of course the masses have a democratic vote and if they vote to screw the rich they, the poor, will suffer even more because the rich will still come out on top.

The Canadian voting masses should be satisfied with the gains they have made under the Harper governments …. and should vote Conservative because voting Liberal or NDP will upset what they already have now …. besides, another PM from the nation of Quebec will quietly screw the ROC as they govern from and for the benefit of Quebec …..!!

I trust that was written with the sarcasm font? Otherwise, you are just a caricature of a human being, I’m so glad I don’t actually know you, do people you DO know realize you think this way? Oh, do you know actual people?

Harper subscribes to a hybrid product of Tea Party, Canadian Reform, Straussian and Burkean-style Conservativism. Check it out. Note with great interest the “noble lie” – who lies, why they can and should lie, and who they lie to.

arbitrary
opinions trumping the ‘Rule of Law’ Under the rule of law the
government is prevented from stultifying individual efforts by ad hoc
action. Through C-51 the government (a group of men and woman) is fortifying their security at the expense of everyone else

Oh no, not Godwin at all. You are exactly the type of person who would follow your fascist Dear Leader blindly into oblivion, goose-stepping with a big, stupid, idiotic grin all the way. The fact that you remain in denial even in the face of a huge amount of evidence clearly illustrating your beloved’s venal characteristics and policies, absolutely confirms it. By the way, it is you who is the troll as evidenced by you online drive-by’s.

And you still love Uncle Joe and his USSR socialist paradise that cost 30 million Russian lives ….. and now you need an Uncle Thomas (Tom in the ROC) to force your socialist nirvana on Canadians, willing or not. Of course, jihadi terrorist will also find a comfy home in your commie Canada…!!

The average Canadian voter doesn’t give a sh!t over C-51 as long as it ensures their security and peace of mind …. and all they really want is lower taxes and a good job …. and to kick the sh!t out of the jihadi terrorists in our midst.

More good signs from Trudeau re his willingness to accept responsibility for his Canadians’ lives-altering decisions (that is, if you have a creative definition of “good”):

“I quite frankly—and this is maybe where I made a strategic or a calculation error—I didn’t think that people would be so divisive and so aggressive as to somehow make it seem like the Liberal party doesn’t care about the Charter,” he said.” (Maclean’s online)

Yes, Trudeau. It’s everyone else’s fault. Everyone else is wrong, over-reacting, when you just made a strategic or calculation error.

C-51 and its opponents, in Trudeau World, courtesy of Maclean’s, June 19th:

Justin Trudeau: “We have said clearly, there are elements in there that increase the safety of Canadians in an immediate way.

John Geddes: Which elements are those?

JT: Well, the *preventative arrests, the strengthening of the no-fly lists and the better coordination and communication between agencies. Those will have an immediate impact. There is a sense shared among the majority of the witnesses [who testified before a House committee] that those three elements in particular increase safety for Canadians in a concrete way.

Now there is also no argument that there are a lot of other things in there that we do have concerns about. I’ve highlighted a number of them and I’ll continue to. That’s why we’re committed to repealing and replacing those elements. Now, Mr. Mulcair chose to vote against the elements that do concretely increase security for Canadians.

JG: Well, he voted against the whole bill; he didn’t vote against those measures specifically.

JT: I know, I know. I’m not going to go around saying that he doesn’t care about the safety of Canadians, [or that] he’s putting the safety of Canadians in danger. That, quite frankly, is an irresponsible style of politics. I don’t think after 10 years of divisive attacks by Mr. Harper that we need to be attacking each other on the opposition side when we are in agreement that there are tremendous problems with the bill, even though there are some good elements in the bill.

We made a decision to say, “I’m not going to vote against Canadians’ physical security and I’m going to make sure we’re going to uphold the rights and freedoms that are so dear to Liberals and Canadians if we form government.” Mr. Mulcair has made a different decision on that. The fact that he’s playing up the fear for Aboriginal Canadians, environmental groups and Muslims, the way Mr. Harper is playing up fears of terrorism, is quite frankly polarizing and bringing down our debate.”

Well, first he admitted that he and Mulcair should not be attacking each other because both agreed that there were tremendous problems with the bill, which is good. But then he went on and accused Mulcair of polarizing the debate, and suggested that Mulcair was as polarizing as Harper ….. so, he just undid everything he just said he would not do in the previous statement.

He could easily have ended non partisanly by saying instead that he and Mulcair had chosen different approaches, Mulcair had wanted to kibosh the entire thing while he would kibosh only the parts that he did not like. Doesn’t excuse his supporting a bad bill but at least he would not have attacked Mulcair for standing up for the interests of the majority of voters who opposed C-51. Disappointing logic.

Now that’s funny ” C-5` will remake Canada in Harper’s Paranoid image” Better that then the writer’s usual delusional imagery. The purpose of this bill is not to take away your rights. The purpose of this bill is to streamline and find efficiencies between various Security Agencies.

The Cannibal Prime Minister…. My
favourite quotes from a couple years ago… still true today. “Tory MP
Ryan Leef was so overjoyed by Harper’s visit that he invited those
gathered to “join me in welcoming back to the Yukon, the prime minister
of Cannibal“. Former Environment Minister Peter Kent repeated the gaffe
and introduced the Dear Leader as “the prime minister of cannibal.”

Absolutely correct…. because when I called up CSIS on their 1-800 line to inform them about threats from one of those Hate Harper crazies, I was told to first call the RCMP to initiate an investigation… because CSIS couldn’t do it independently. Now with C-51 they will be able to put an alert on such crazies and protect Harper and all Canadians from terrorist threats and attacks.

What the forum Harper Haters® fear is that they may be classified as persons of interest and a danger to the PM of Canada with their hate/fear/smearmongering blurts verging in on terrorism… believe it.

“If Harper is returned to government armed with C-51, his security, police and intelligence apparatus will be virtually above the law.”

C-51 gives them so much power that it’ll be virtually impossible for them to do something illegal. But, if one of those agencies manages to go so far as to do something that even C-51 doesn’t allow them to do, I’m confident that Dear Leader will hide a piece of retroactive legislation in the next budget bill to make it perfectly legal…

Harper’s Canada: the weirdest part is that there’s still a lot of people who, in October, will vote for it to continue…

I have been around for almost eighty years but never remember any of the prime ministers of the time adding their names to government.There was no King government.No Trudeau government or Muldoon government.No that changed with our current government when it made our government the HARPER government.Harper has certainly left the cupboard bare in Ottawa with his outrageous spending over the last decade.Now if either T.Mulcair or J.Trudeau should be lucky enough or unlucky enough to become the next Prime Minster they would have to raise taxes or cut services to bring back some sanity to our government spending but if failing that why they could just keep right on borrowing money and running deficits far into the future.Right out of Harper’s playbook one might say.Almost a decade now and not a thin dime paid on the government’s debt but billions upon billions of dollars added to the debt.

You’re so effing desperate you must resort to juvenile cartoons …. because you know Justin is tanking and the BQ is starting to erode Mulcair’s Quebec NPD base after sobering up to the fact that the incompetent bunch of MPs they elected failed miserably to defend Quebec’s interests.

Harper Conservative majority government again and screwing you UP THE MIDDLE ….LOLOL

The Truth is that true and loyal Canadian will reelect another CPC Harper majority government because the centre-left vote is split, divided, fractured and confused … allowing the Harper Cons to win up the middle … AGAIN ….LOL

Bill C-51, a clear danger to rights and freedoms, is an attempt to consolidate power by the oligarchs as world populations are dragged toward a fully implemented vision of globalization. Dismantling our sovereign nation began many decades ago.The first step in the process was to sideline the Bank of Canada in 1974 and relieve it of its Constitutional mandate to provide money at a near “0” percent rate of interest for clearly defined purposes. When the Bank of International Settlements got free reign to direct the flow of capital at compound rates of interest to service the national debt of Canada, the floodgates of irreversible change opened. Foreign jurisdictions took over control of the Canadian economy incrementally.

When the Provincial Conservative party deliberately drained the Alberta Heritage Fund, it was not an accident, but a plan with a purposeful design. Enriching foreign multinationals at the expense of Albertans appears to have been the key motivating factor. Albertans finally rebelled against the corrupt Conservative dynasty and tossed them out on their ear because of blatant fiscal mismanagement and a drive toward austerity. It is worth noting that the majority of the oil sands projects are controlled by foreign jurisdictions, most notably the Americans.

Canada is steadily being eroded through policies detrimental to the growth of a free democratic nation. Taking part in wars manufactured to promote and induce fear to control the uninformed masses is not conducive to a free and open society. Propaganda Minister, Stephen Blaney, likes to pretend he is part of a tribe which has all the answers to the ills of the world. In essence, Blaney is a petty official carrying out a larger plan which will render our nation an uninhabitable wasteland suitable as a resource base for Fortress North America. Dissenters who cannot be assimilated into the new way of thinking will be simply be imprisoned or become casualties of contrived, self-serving wars designed to centralize resource control around the globe.

America is run by oligarchs. Changing political parties in the US through the voting process is like substituting one soiled diaper for another. Did we not learn anything from the American annexation of Hawaii in 1898? Did we not hear Dwight Eisenhower when he warned us about the very real dangers created by the rise of the military-industrial complex?

Interesting to see Standard and Poors recent downgrade of Britain”s credit rating with the threat of opting out of the E.U. with a referendum. But The Bank of England a private bank owned by the shareholders have no trouble with Immigrants flooding to Britain putting a strain on their public debt thru their generous social safety nets and who benefits, of course the International Banking Cartels that service their debt.

So now we know you don’t mind having muslim jihadi terrorists running free in our midst and neutering CSIS and RCMP for some perceived rights and freedoms you cherish and want to share with these terrorist traitors ….. which makes you no better than them …. believe it!!!

You view appears to be anchored in conservative style “black and white” thinking. Your fearless leader had several years to seriously consider legislation to thwart terrorists plots prior to the attacks in October 2014 which cost two members of our military their lives due to political inertia and inaction. Too bad Harper spent the funds for comprehensive remedies to guard against internal security threats while willingly forgoing tax revenue–essentially giving billions of dollars in tax breaks to his multinational corporate buddies. Harper chose to totally ignore the situation until it bit him on the ass. Now the conservative tribe are content to appeal to potential voters by exaggerating the threat to try to save the conservative government from being kicked to the curb.

… and you know that true and loyal Canadians will again vote for another strong and stable CPC Harper majority government because average Canadians are concerned about their jobs, security and lower taxes …. NOT your defense of jihadi terrorists in our midst and perceived paranoid fears about C-51…. you lose, loser …. believe it.

20 years immigration birthrate and C-51 will be watching your kids bill – poor you screaming for police state. Kiss the Rockefeller/Rothschild NWO ring and bend over because you support oppression – its coming for you

Are you a conservative troll? If I were to define a troll, I would say a blog commenter who has absolutely no interest in conversation. Are you simply angry, arrogant, or unwilling to acknowledge any other opinions or points of view?

Michael, I think you need to fact check a bit better. Where & when did Justin Trudeau encourage these SENATORS to vote yes on bill C51? You of all people are also bound to know that the only reason the Liberals supported C51 was out of sheer political expediency. If they had voted no, Harper would have been all over them as appeasers etc. etc. If this had been manipulated into an early election, the Liberals were certainly not ready for that. This calculation by the Liberals may turn out to be poor strategy. But at the moment there are more people in favour of some sort of anti-terror legislation than there are against it. I was not happy to see them vote in agreement, but I have every bit as much faith in J.T. as I would in T. Mulcair to deal with it later. Stop being divisive. Getting rid of Harper is “Job 1” We will deal with Bill C51 later, along with a boatload of other harper crap.

What nonsense! The Liberals voted for Bill C-51 because they actually SUPPORT it, not because Harper would have portrayed them as appeasers had they not. Stop believing the lies the Liberals spread around. Liberals were the originators of this kind of legislation, starting with Anne McLellan. Supporting it was a must for them.

I disagree with Trudeau voting for C-51 for the sake of political expediency. Up to that point, Trudeau had a reputation as a fairly principled party leader. He could have (and should have) voted against C-51 and defended himself against “weak on terror” attacks by using “strong on” Charter or Rights or Privacy or Democracy — in other words, strong on principles. Unfortunately, I think he blew it.

Good article, Mr. Harris. The consistent thing about Mr. Harper, and why I question his intellectuality, common sense..I don’t know the term, is the ideological inability to see the long term ramifications of anything. We agree with everything about Bill C51, but think what it says about Mr. Harper. In the annals of history, his legacy will be trying to thwart the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; he’s not smart enough to succeed, that’s a consequence his hubris fails to see, but he will be remembered for trying to dismember it. And, while Harper conservatives may like to think their ideological fellows agree with them, most of them don’t. Believe it or not, Right wing types don’t like the North Korea association either. I imagine there will be a bunch of ill-funded Harper promises before the election, trying to maintain power, but they’re just ill-conceived bribes. It’s a thing people like Mr. Harper do, anything can be remedied by buying. His problem is he has been in power long, so people know him. He’ll promise the world to stay in charge. We’ve ten years knowing him, he doesn’t keep his promises.

Harper knows what he’s doing and he’s working to a long-term plan. If he can’t outright challenge the Charter, he wants to make the populace sick of it through a series of “values”-defying decisions by the SCOC. That’s why he keeps sending doomed legislation to that court.

See, that is the the very thing about democracy, everyone’s opinion is legitimate.

Oh, and the media, critics, they were once revered as another pillar to keep our democratic institutions or carrying-ons in check. It appears that you would prefer to de-legitimize those that would offer you food for thought. Maybe you could offer some intelligent counter arguments to his opinions in his article, say where and why you disagree.

The NDP need to drop this senate abolition thing. It ain’t happening. Fight the fronts you can win. The Liberals need to repudiate completely their vote for C-51 and platform abolishing it.

Ironically this would put the centre-left on the same plate and completely split the vote in Harpers favour. He would love that.

I can only vote in my riding, traditionally a Tory/Whig swing riding, but with a fresh NDP member provincially. The NDP is very strong here. So I despair that the vote will split again and the CPC will squeak by.

Agreed.. But this leaves me still in the bind.. I can only vote once in my riding. I can only vote for who I believe has the best chance to defeat our incumbent CPC MP. And is voting my preferred party going to do that? Not necessarily the same thing.

Orgs like LeadNow and the Council of Canadians – others, too – will be providing up to date rankings of candidates in ridings across the country as the election nears. Some orgs also facilitate “vote matching”.

Ahh. Yes. I am aware, but really it does not feel at all like a ‘minor dilemma’. When it’s the only thing I can do. I appreciate your response, but it is not a minor dilemma and shouldn’t be spoken of as such, to dismiss it and make it a small problem when so many do not vote because ‘it makes no difference’.

Well, it’s whatever sized dilemma you feel it is. My comment was not being dismissive, but was meant to indicate that who to vote for once the Harper yes or no stance was solidified, is a comparatively minor dilemma, especially if one is willing to vote for any of the opposition parties in order to get rid of Harper. But the dilemma is not minor in the larger scheme of things, particularly for those who don’t find a ready home in any party, or, for example, like the Greens, but know they can’t form government – yet.

Since Michael Harris strongly opposes C-51 and quotes people who compare it with Nazi Gestapo tactics, why doesn’t he do Canada a huge favour and re-write it just the way he thinks it should be, and present it as a gift to his favourite opposition party leader or the government for consideration?

Maybe after doing that, he could run for MP this fall, if the party he favours will take him.

Should he actually win a seat in parliament, he would have a legitimate pulpit to preach from, and even have a chance to actually put his criticisms into effect.

It is more than a little disturbing that the press and even iPolitics have chosen to almost ignore the very ground
breaking democratic reform package the Liberals have put forward this week!
Even some of Trudeau’s harshest critics have said it’s a brave new step forward for all of us.
The press have hands down just snubbed it, played us for idiots, and gone so far as not ‘bothering’ to cover it in
depth.
So, where is the feature about how Trudeau wants to remake Canada in an inclusive OPEN image??? Where???
This is grave stuff and Canadians deserve better.

Yes you are right DASHIE, Trudeau put some new platforms in the window, sounded very good…………But when it came to Bill C-51 he had a choice, he voted with the Harper Conservatives with no civilian oversight in place, Mulcair stood his ground and he owns it, on opposing this Bill.

Thanks, but I have no desire to be right. All I really care about is seeing this beautiful country reclaimed and rebuilt. And it is going to take rebuilding, not just a change in government. Harper has so thoroughly raped and pillaged the land it’s tragic and I don’t think we have seen even a
tiny measure of how bad things are. That’s not scare tactics nor is it hysteria. The cupboards will be almost bare and it will take phenomenal astute management to restore things.
Bill C-51 can be absolutely rewritten and reshaped and it can become what we all need in these times.
The level of extremes and harsh ‘should haves’ etc are not typical of what these pages used to be for years. They were pages of reasoned and respectful dialogue and enlightened disagreement.
Lately, why all the frenzied lather and the hyperbole?
It’s strange and it’s a turn off. Let’s hope that we see everyone stick with this great site and become a bit more thoughtful and open.
I have to believe that for the most part we all want the same thing and that is a Harper free zone.
And I have to think also that we’ll support any new government that kicks him and every damned one of his disgusting puppets out of office.
Don Lenihan wrote a great piece on National Newswatch this week about the reforms the Liberals are proposing. It’s a must read.
And where is the press covering this groundbreaking important policy?? Where are they???
People have been ranting for YEARS about the short pants brigade, the one man band of the PM, the silenced voice both in the House and in the Public Service.
This package will END all that yet no one is talking about it!! What in Heaven’s name is going on?

I agree Dashie12 that our government institutions need a complete remake and the Liberals did bring some things to the table that would be helpful in doing that. I don’t agree with all of them but I do hope that we will all be able to work together to do something more positive for this countries future and in turn the entire planet. It would be nice if someone at ipolitics would do an examination of their proposals and we could discus them in full.

That’s exactly all I’m calling for! Thanks!
We are an intelligent passionate lot, far far savvier than the MSM allow and we need more than ever in these coming months to be able to share constructive positive ideas for
what we dearly hope will be a NEW CANADA!!!
I never knock this great publication but my goodness one would hope that we’d see a
genuine effort to stimulate discussion about what needs to be done.
I don’t know about anyone else and can only speak for myself, but I am tired to the bone with easy criticisms and rather pointless demeaning of anyone who hopes to rebuild and
restore this phenomenally wonderful land to all it can be for every one of us.
iPolitics has been a tremendous vehicle for enlightenment and the common good.
Please let’s see it become even more so in these profoundly critical times.

Please? Please!
Mr Trudeau and his entire party voted in lockstep with Mr Harper to pass a law which abolishes the rule of law in Canada forever by creating an exception to it. It specifically exempts CSIS from any requirement to act in accord with our constitution, Charter of rights and Freedoms or the laws of Canada or any other country. It gives them authority to “disrupt” us, or detain us at their own discretion, without oversight or any need to report to anyone.

Lockstep. Not one dissenting vote from any Conservative or Liberal member.

No one, not any single person who voted to pass this Police State bill deserves a single vote from any Canadian who loves Canada. Party affiliations aside, and I speak as one who values loyalty as a virtue, I can’t believe that there is not some overriding agency driving both parties and possibly others as well toward an agenda we haven’t yet seen in its entirety. Who funds both parties? What influences do they share, openly or clandestinely?

No-one should cast a vote for anyone who takes funds from anyone who also funds another party.

Every time someone comes along whose views and the way they express them you don’t like, you tell or invite them to leave.

You write often as though this is your site. It isn’t. Anyone who wishes to can share their opinions here.

I don’t like you referring to Mulcair as dangerous and scary, and saying “there are some WE simply don’t warm to”, etc., as though you are speaking to a Liberal membership conference on this board. Completely cheap and nasty. But I don’t invite you to leave and act as if these are my pages, my community. You do, and you have no basis, other than a presumably thin skin and sense of insecurity, to make such statements and attempt to silence the critics as you would SO love to do. Why don’t you just ask Michael Harris to submit his copy to you before it gets published? And ask the Editor for a giant white-out brush to wipe away any remotely critical comments about Justin Trudeau?

Thanks No Harp)er Seals, but I am curious, you write so well, your knowledge of the journalist profession in Ottawa is obvious, so maybe some day you could give us some insight what drives you, I know that will never happen, will always be curious. Cheers from Hamilton Ontario Canada !

Thanks, Ken. That’s sweet of you. I could not last on Parliament Hill, however – not as an MP or one covering the antics of MPs. ESPECIALLY not with the Reformacons anywhere near the place! I could not put up with the bureaucracy, the endless hierarchies, tying of hands, gagging of mouths, etc. The senate waste, the entitlement, the small, self-satisfied minds, the jockeying, backstabbing and gossiping. Nah. Sometimes it looks a little exciting when a brouhaha erupts, and the buildings are beautiful – Ottawa is kinda nice, too. But I have deep respect for people who manage to rise above all of that and do a good job for Canadians. One person that comes to mind in that regard, for me (you may disagree!), is Megan Leslie. There are others, thankfully.

I agree with you Dashie12-we must have hope. Trudeau offers that we can completely change the mean and nasty and secretive style of gov’t we have from this sick sick man. This bill scares me but I have to believe that we’ll be rid of the dictator in in Oct. and then we can all wok to repair our damaged country.

I hope people will be able to work together Noreen because it sounds like there is going to be some real break up issues in this country because of the Liberals having such a hard time accepting that Canadians may not vote them in as they expected.

Hi Noreen
Believe it indeed.
What is truly horrifying to me is the way the MSM have virtually dismissed this amazing substantive
democratic reform package. Even Andrew Coyne with whom I passionately vehemently disagree
paid tribute to it on At Issue. That shocked but pleased me, brief and muted as it was.
Also a real shocker this week was the panel on Power and Politics about Lawson’s neanderthal
deeply entrenched twisted comments/beliefs.
Powers and the gang simply left me slack jawed and they did it all so bloody calmly and
with such arrogance it shook me to the core.
It all went unchallenged!
By God! we are in for some dandy heady times!!
Cheers!

Noreen, I certainly I think we can trust the Liberals to make required amendments to this legislation as much as I would trust the NDP. Mulcair is using abolition of the Senate as a political ploy. It simply cannot be done. He is lying and misleading on that. Can he be trusted with C51?

The press has not ignored this. I have read more than one article on it and saw it discussed on the CBC news. The Liberals are the third party and I think for being the third party they have received a lot of press considering how little the official oppositrion NDP was getting before Bill C-51 brought them into the limelight.

I am a huge fan of Michael Harris but I think he had too much NDP cool-aid before he wrote this article. I am currently trying to verify the statement that “And what was the Liberal leader thinking when he asked the very senators he
ejected from the national caucus to support C-51?” This is the first I’ve heard of this. What is the source? Mulcair’s office? This allegation makes no sense whatsoever and in any case, the Liberal Senators did not vote for C51 because they were cut lose by Justin Trudeau.

Life is tough Harris and despite your best efforts C51 is now law, Harper’s been in power 10 years and it looks like 14 now. BTW, Rosemary Barton got schooled in journalistic ethics last night on P&P by an independent Senator – Ann Cools. Some of you so-called ethical journalists and commentators should pay attention. Then your editor wouldn’t have to defend you all from accusations of bias. Have a look.

I think about it from these points of view, the policies are my kind of policies. He’s killing the arrogant elitist Liberals which I totally wanted and approve of and finally the great joy I take in how he drives Harris and cultists like you nuts. And how you can’t do anything about it.

General reply to all my critics., you can try to vote Harper out in October, though if you’re a Liberal that’s kind of laughable and the NDP will never govern federally. Watch! As for all the personal insults, call me what you will, I just love Karma and to see fate bite Liberals in the arse. And I’m not alone by a long shot.

I don’t see how you can classify my comment as a personal insult. Saying that if your liberal that’s kind of laughable, say absolutely nothing. The fact that you are not alone is no justification for your beliefs. As to “call me what you will”, there is nothing to call you, because you have said nothing.

That’s kind of a funny comment Bill, when looking at all the nom de plumes of the whiners yapping at me because they’re losing. I’m having a great day and everytime I see someone getting enraged like you about what I write – it makes it even better. Tooddle Loo now.

Anne Cools, while somewhat accomplished before her time in the Senate, is a massive disappointment in her unfailing defense of every single pig at the trough. She is a Liberal senator but seems to have become more Con than the Cons. She is a living argument for short term limits.

What could possibly be wrong with civilian oversight when it comes to Bill C-51. As this election heats up and if the NDP under Tom Mulcair become a serious threat to the status quo political parties that have governed Canada for most of our history do not be surprised if the Liberals and Conservatives promise to infuse public oversight into this Bill, DO NOT BELIEVE THEM !

Any government that has tried to push through unconstitutional legislation the way this one has to the point of fighting losing court cases to the tune or 4.7 million should be thrown out as traitors. How can they possibly be allowed to continue on as the government? What is the matter with the Governor General? He’s just as guilty in this as Harper. Is his bucket list still missing a few goodies before he leaves?

So right about the GG!
The MSM have been completely AWOL and complicit as Hell in ignoring this patsy for Harper.
The man has been utterly spineless and for someone who has spent a lifetime calling himself a great citizen of Canada, he knows no shame.
Where are the press on what should be in depth examination of his blatant Harper cronyism?

When does the revolution begin? Can Canadians read this column and just go back for their second cup of coffee? What can we possibly DO about it besides riot in the streets. Is Rocco Galati our only hope?

Mounties on Hill now packing German machine pistols. One con MP wanted full on assault weapons so they could pick ‘them’ off from 400 meters. Any collateral damage would of course be “little people”, so no matter.

Don’t get a swelled head or anything Mike… but this column was brilliant.
My concern about the “we’ll fix it later” thing relates to Obama.
Like Steve, George Bush had a team that had a tightly controlled b.s. public script, but was universally dissed by clear thinkers around the world.
Obama came in promising to be different, but according to Noam Chomsky, has actually enlarged the infringements on civil liberties far beyond Bush.
Gatekeepers have stood aside to enable Steve to rearrange Canada’s furniture to match the decor in his brain.
I’m concerned J.T. and his backers don’t want to do much more than reupholster the couch.

At least we have an alternative here in Canada, the option to cast our vote for a party [ The NDP ] other than the Liberals or Conservatives. Our neighbors to the south only have The Democrats or Republicans as choices, maybe, just maybe Canadians can show our American friends come October CHANGE can happen.

I know personally of people who think Harper is doing a fine job and that C51 won’t apply to “legal” demonstrations or anything they might possibly do. Until those people can be convinced, there is always a concern that Harper will win another majority.

Harper will not win another majority. Too much dirty laundry on display now. When you are a Corporatist, yet the National Post starts being critical of you, the jig is up. Even Conrad Black is airing off about Harper. Hell, that’s part of his “base” talking. The real threat is that Liberals & NDP voters will start squabbling over things like C51 etc. and Harper will pull off a minority.

Another high profile Harper MP James Moore quit today… Harper’s support is getting smaller and smaller…He will either lose, or form a slim minority. But I would say, only diehard Harper fans, many of whom are jumping ship will be left to vote for this stale and overrated government.

Hi Super Yeti
You may want to check out Don Lenihan on National Newswatch this week on Trudeau’s democratic
reform package.
It’s hardly about reupholstering the furniture. It’s about tearing down the undemocratic autocratic
tyranny of Harper and his god forsaken gang and rebuilding our freedoms.
You are worth more than these casually dismissive comments about something so grave as our democracy.
Please check it out!
The press have as usual ignored it and played us for idiots….unbelievable and unconscionable.

Even John Ivison talked to Trudeau and wrote a column. So did Mark Kennedy. Of course, his gal pal, Althia Raj, wrote a piece in the Huffington Post. Trudeau himself submitted an article to HP. It was on the news, and on webpages. Did you think that perhaps doing this in the last week of Parliament might have something to do with the “meh” response?

Good Father’s Day Morning!
Just want to mention that Lenihan did his first piece then on Friday responded to a piece
from that Harper goon MacDougall (long since gone to the UK). It’s really a very
detailed and insightful piece and leaves NO doubt about the secretive garbage that the
PMO has been employing under this regime.
I am a broken record on this and will remain so until the press honestly address what these
changes in Trudeau’s reform package truly spell out.
In my days of anchoring a National network newsroom, this whole topic, I swear would have been covered wall to wall with vigorous debates from all sides.
It would be akin to other issues like reopening the constitution or privatizing health care or
guaranteed income and such.
It stuns me that the press are just brazenly ignoring the need for it after all the damage Harper and his Teneycke and Byrne drill sergeants have inflicted upon all of us.
So, FYI, check out both from Lenihan on Newswatch.
Best to you!

PS Super
Did you mention once that you have no TV?
Neither do I nor do gazillions of us anymore.
But livestreaming CBC News Network on our computers is a breeze and only about 7
dollars a month!!! Maybe you’re doing that?
Cheers!

You are not comparing apples with apples here. The most “Blue Liberal” is still to the left of Obama, and the President has been stymied by Republicans via their system of government. Neither of these things apply in Canada, despite Harper’s wishes that they did. If a major portion of the electorate that dislike Harper would vote strategically this fall, he would be relegated to third party status. Things are nasty during campaigns, but when it comes to passing legislation Liberals & the NDP get along quite well.

They got along on this site quite well until Mulcair surged in the polls, and then the rank Liberal partisanship began. It was nasty, scary, dangerous Mulcair from that day on, while Trudeau remained untouched, like a Greco-Roman god, blessing us with a walk among the plebs. All of a sudden there was no more, “vote for the candidate in your riding best positioned to defeat the Con”, but vote for Trudeau, and only Trudeau!

Not just this site NHS. There was even an ABC page on facebook with over 20,000 members and 18 admins that allowed (and some admins even instigated) Lib on NDP bashing with unsubstantiated rumours and rancour.

Wow – disgusting and disheartening. And these Lib idiots here who won’t give Mulcair any credit and won’t say a thing wrong about Junior are wandering around wondering why there’s so much anger. The anger begun when they made conscious decisions to shut down their fellow Progressives and tell them how to vote. The anger begun when they started calling Mulcair “dangerous” and “scary”. Totally irresponsible and selfish.

Take a look at my next message below. This is how “positive”, “new” politicking Justin Trudeau sees the opposition against C-51. He doesn’t want to say x, but, boy, doesn’t he say x, over and over again.

Some might call that disingenuous. I call it cheap and nasty when you’re trying to paint yourself as above the fray.

If people pay attention to Trudeau’s actions, and not his platitudes, they will see the real person and just what he is willing to do to gain power.

I saw that too – disingenuous is putting it mildly – but its all about Mulcair and the NDP not wanting to fold their tent and become “L” Liberals all the time. Maybe they’ll learn after being in third place for a few decades how to cooperate.

An excellent analysis,
Why Justin supported Harper’s terror bill before even reading it is astounding.
As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo we may being witnessing Trudeau’s Waterloo – not that he fought very hard – but rather acquiesced at a time when he should have taken a firm stand on behalf of civil rights and the rule of law!

I sure hope so, R.
It looks like the invisible hand is writing the end for Steve’s regime on the wall.
It’s just a question of when.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the 34 Conservative MPs that have decided not to run this Fall.

There is probably nothing ‘ethical or moral’ in their not running again. It is not coincidental that if they stay they have to wait until 65 to get their pension but if they leave now they can collect at 55. That’s called ‘CON ethics 101’. Pure greed and self serving which is exactly what their actions prove. History will not be kind to this bunch.

The Liberals seem to have ‘bad’ advisers. They seem to want power so bad that they capitulate every time. Their popularity would probably have gone through the roof if they had stood against it. Now we’ll never know will we.

Merci, Michael Harris, so well said, again.
I am a long time liberal, with a small and a big L, I was inspired by Pierre Elliott Trudeau during the 1980 referendum, and all the way to the repatriation and the Charter.
Now, I feel totally betrayed by Justin. I would love to vote liberal, but as I believe PET would, I will put democracy and Canada first and vote Mulcair!
My vote will be based on principles and values but it will also be strategic. This will probably be the best way to get a real liberal government in Ottawa.
Sorry Justin, but you sold us out!

Yes it is time for Canada to show the world that we still have a democracy and we will exercise that will come October 2015. Say no in October to the Conservatives and Liberals who have taken Canadians for granted for decades.

Sorry..you obviously don’t live in Quebec. Separatism will never die in Quebec.. It will always be there, percolating waitng for the right leader… It recedes, then comes back…it is romanticism that many old and young Pequistes have…it isn’t even logical..but it is there. Gilles Duceppe just became leader of the Bloc. He is a very popular Quebec politician, and the new EKO’s poll already has the Bloc eating into NDP support in the Province.

Thanks Mr. Harris. Harper has been a blight on the Canadian soul.. And he has had 10 years to enact mechanisms that have hobbled our institutions and has done so with contempt. The next PM is going to have to spend his first year undoing the tremendous damage done by Harper.. Counting down the days to October 19, 2015…. But before that we have Nigel Wright on August 11th… Will he protect the man he helped become PM? Or end up being the one to help end his career..

He may as well have because HE VOTED FOR IT.
And he made his caucus VOTE FOR IT.
And he tried to make the “Independent” Senators VOTE FOR IT.

Leaders require courage – Trudeau failed big time to support his own father’s Charter. And why? For a good, principled reason?

Nah, to hear it from him directly, it was just because Harpo was going to call him soft on terror and an election was around the corner.

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians bothered to sign anti-C51 petitions. Thousands of lawyers protested the bill as did former PMs and people of distinction. The Senate was deluged with tens of thousands of letters from constituents. A quarter of Liberal supporters have moved to the NDP over the issue. But for the few Lib-only lovers here, it’s a non-issue because the bill would have passed anyway. Well, Trudeau revealed a lot that day. And it wasn’t pretty.

Didja catch that picture of Trudeau next to Bill Blair, beaming like a buffoon? Bill Blair, the racist carding and protester kettling Robocop. Maybe if he wins a seat, he can be the face of the police state that Trudeau voted for.

You apologists should be ashamed of yourselves. In fact, if you really thought about in your own private corridors, most of you with consciences would be.

He should of opposed it but he did what Liberals always do – he determined which way the wind was blowing and took the position that he thought would get him some votes. Only this time a principle-less approach is going to bite him and Mulclair and May are going to pound him on this in the debates.

As I said to rj if this bill is deemed unconstitutional by the SCOC the Liberals are not going to look very competent at making sure our constitutional rights are protected by them. They had many opportunities to do the right thing. They needed more than ever to have shown a really strong backbone in their values where our freedom of speech is concerned. Most of us are not partisans or we would be members of political parties and making our monthly tithings. Most of us are open to good policies and voting on them one by one if we had the chance. So considering the Liberals history and their response to this bill they have pretty much lost me forever.

But he voted for it. And people who were going to support him have dropped away like flies. If he was so sure of winning that he could say what he did about fixing it WHEN the Liberals won government – he could have waited and then introduced a totally new bill to accomplish what was needed.

And because Harper was going to ram this down our throats and if the Liberals really did disagree with it then they would have had the passion, the backbone and the gravitas to have stood up for Canadians in a way they would have rallied behind them. It was simpering at best and not convincing at all.

Harper is sneaky…he plays politics all the time, doesn’t let up, particularly when it comes to Trudeau. Since Trudeau became leader, he has been in Harper’s sights..a huge bulls eye that Harper began throwing darts at trying to diminish him, while completely ignoring Mulcair. C-51 was yet another trap set by Harper for Trudeau…it didn’t work, instead has helped Mulcair who has taken up the mantle of ‘protector of our rights’.. hmmmm.

Bob when you start sounding just like the Harper supporters you are only confirming for people that they have made the right choice in changing their minds about the Liberals. Justin is not the Liberals. People thinking the leader is the party is reason enough to not trust all those 34 odd changes that Justin has announced that will make things different. Glorifying the leader is so North Korean.

Harper is the PM who created this paranoid bill. He has a majority. He did what Harper always does..he politicized the bill and listened to no one. The whole Committe was a joke..

I repeat…I am not a one issue voter. I see the bigger picture.. Trudeau will repeal and fix this bill, if the SCOC doesn’t rule it unconstitutional. The Liberals have an impressive field of candidates, all working on a new approach to politics, progressive policies like – opening up Access to Information, legalization of marijuana etc… But I have no doubt you know all this…

But if the SCOC does rule this bill unconstitutional that does not look good on the Liberals either. They will not have done the proper homework it takes to actually protect Canadians. Had they done that, and I’m pretty confident in Galati’s knowledge of the Constitution, they could have argued it was unconstitutional right from the start. This is their fall from grace.

Love your measured quiet response! I really do! Your balance is refreshing and god knows
it’s needed.
Harris is a rare gifted man and a treasure of a first rate writer, always seeking the truth and
real justice. But to be fair, he is not a political strategist and he might well be first to agree with that.
His superb book, I believe, despite the massive efforts by our press to ignore it and
even trash it, has changed the conversation all across this country.
But I don’t get his seeming readiness to trash Trudeau most times, as it also seems with much of iPolitics itself….it just doesn’t make sense to me.
All are fair game for tough honest criticism, but what’s with the full out hate on for Trudeau?
Something lies beneath all of this.
What about the state of the country and the very real threats to our democracy?
Surely these people care more about Canada than they do a personal vendetta or whatever the Hell it is that allows them to truly ignore and turn away from a very
promising talented throng of women and men who may well be finally rescuing this battered land and reclaiming our beloved country.
Help me out here, please, as I’m at a genuine loss as to why the negativity from the Editor, some of the writers and the overall hopelessness.
Harper, by any stretch, unless of course his gang succeeds in cheating AGAIN,
has no chance of winning the support of Canadians.
What’s going on?

I do not believe this is hate. For many it is disappointment. I used to be a Liberal supporter and their history precedes Justin Trudeau. While being better than Harper they have not always been good for this country. Some of us are old enough to know disappointment more than once.

Liberal governments have governed Canada for the better part of the last century, and for the most part done it well. John A. MacDonald, Tommy Douglas, Diefenbaker, Mulroney also contributed to, in no small measure, as one columnist put it..the miracle that is Canada. and it is.

But in the last 10 years Harper has diminished a lot of the good brought in by previous governments. I call them Canada’s 10 years of darkness. Harris is right.. “This PM isn’t interested in the rule of law, but the rule of Steve. And
that is what Bill C-51 is all about — and why this guy should be running
North Korea, not Canada.” I believe also that NDP finally see a chance to form government, and to do this they have to diminish Trudeau’s lead and Harper’s Bill C-51 and Trudeau’s support of that bill with the promise of repealing parts of the bill and adding other clauses to strengthen our rights and freedoms, has given them that opening on what they perceive to be a weak spot ‘ C-51’ and will keep pounding Trudeau, NOT Harper, its politics…nothing more..and fair game.. making it appear as if Trudeau is in collusion with Harper on this partisan, political bill. A bill whose main aim was to force the Liberals to vote against it.. which they didn’t. Harper’s modus operandi always has a political angle, how will it serve him best.. But with Liberal support, he cannot really attack Trudeau on it, but If he can get the NDP to attack the Liberals, great, they are doing want he wants. What I don’t think Harper banked on was some Conservatives running to the NDP..it was only supposed to be Liberal supporters deserting. Now he is in a pickle, what does he do, ignore Trudeau and move his attacks to Mulcair which could give Trudeau a boost? Oh the dilemma..those 3rd party Liberals what a headache they are. For now Mulcair is in the lead. Although as we see from the new EKO’s poll, the Bloc is already eating into the NDP support in Quebec. And the fact that Mulcair will now get more scrutiny can be either a good or a bad thing.. So yes, in politics wait a week…and everything can change.

What a great post rj.
The dance between Harper and Mulcair is endlessly both intriguing and pretty unsettling.
Is it just me or do others get the deep sense that the two of them know full well it’s a game? that they’re really there for each other no matter what, as long as their silly and wholly
destructive cheap desire to ‘destroy’ the Liberals succeeds.
That’s a pretty distasteful and ugly goal and it’s even shoddier when you think about this beautiful country and all that’s teetering in the balance.
And to what end?
Power, as you say.
Both of these men are pretty blatantly panting for power for any observant soul.
Mulcair could have made use of and highlighted some of the very good people he has but he’s such an over inflated ego that he’s sidelined the great minds. They cannot be happy.
Not once has Trudeau ever exhibited that weird power madness or ego, but rather he’s at every turn been inclusive, eager to showcase his many many talented men and women.
I defy anyone to say that he’s a one man band. His whole Life has been a narrative of
working with and helping others even in situations most of us cannot imagine.
Sometimes I really wonder how much all the naysayers have even bothered to read.
No, he’s a force to be reckoned with and he will continue to refrain from going negative and making snide cheap shots.
It will be the winning tone we all need so much to reclaim our country.
Just watch him.

harper has a majority and was going to pass this bill.Trudeau seems like the only leader to grasp this and instead of screaming the sky is falling, will delete the bad parts while keeping the parts that keep us safe-if it doesn’t get thrown out beforehand by the SCOC.

C51 will not make it past the SCOC constitutional challenge and even Harper knows that. Its ok to stick him with that type of legislation ideology but it won’t be there for long. People should focus on making sure he is defeated in Oct.

Exactly. Why is Bill C-51 so objectionable? Because it was designed as a stealth weapon. But Trudeau avoids the “soft on terror” trap & promises responsible gov’t. because he’s built the team to deliver it. Meanwhile, the opposition rank and file go to war with each other and Harper gets re-elected. Got it now?

Someone who has had experience in management or government and people with an economic background and some lawyers. They have virtually none of those that anyone can see and Mulcair is running on his own personality only.

While I think it would be helpful to always have people with all the right experience to do a better job than anyone else that is now always the case. Decent people make a decent government. Decent people with life experience and a passion and love for nature, justice and equality, can be just as capable and maybe more so than anyone without those desires. Good people, passionate about their country, will want to learn and do a good job. There is a lot of help inside and out that all governments turn to. If we were going to ask for the perfect PM what experience would we want him or her to have?

Contempt prior to investigation on Terry’s part. There are several lawyers, heads of social service agencies, economic development consultants, public service managers, teachers, community developers, a doctor, and so on.

And they ARE good, hard-working and passionate people. They have not been in federal government so can not point to ex Finance Ministers among their caucus, but then, no new party should ever get a chance, in the view of some.

I knew Harper. This bill is not a surprise, but Trudeau I don’t get. Is he being manipulated? Maybe he wants these powers, after all this is the man who said that the October Crisis was his father’s ‘finest hour’. Which it most definitely was not.

As for him fixing it? It can’t be fixed anymore than dog shit can become steak.

Really, it can’t be fixed. You’re an expert? You have legal training and have spent hours reading and deciphering it? Did you know that it actually includes a recommendation from the Arrar enquiry? Did you know that some parents whose children went to Syria to fight with ISIL actually would have like the CSIS to have the power to stop their children? You say the Liberals should have taken a “principled” stand. I say that the line between a principled stand and ideology is often very thin.

It’s funny.
The first time I saw this photo I cracked up and felt good.
It was a long while ago and it never ceases to amaze me how people find cynicism in what is just a great
spontaneous moment between two close friends!
When have we seen anything remotely like this from our gang in Ottawa who are singularly lacking in humour let alone warmth?
Don’t know about anyone else but I long for some spontaneity, some joy and genuine camaraderie!!
It can’t come soon enough.

Join the conversation. It gets feisty!

Author

Michael Harris is a writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker. He was awarded a Doctor of Laws for his “unceasing pursuit of justice for the less fortunate among us.” His nine books include Justice Denied, Unholy Orders, Rare ambition, Lament for an Ocean and Con Game. His work has sparked four commissions of inquiry and three of his books have been made into movies. His book on the Harper majority government, Party of One, was a number one best-seller.